What Is Hyvä Theme & Why Does Your Web Store Need It?

Nearly every E-commerce website owner dreams of having a solution that works fast and offers an excellent user experience to customers. One way to realize this dream is to use a theme capable of speeding up development processes and the release of the final solution to the market. Today, there is a solution that manages both and offers other benefits, as well.

Hyvä theme is a groundbreaking, ultra-fast Magento theme focused on high performance and flawless user experience. Released in 2021, it has already become one of the hottest trends in E-commerce. Hyvä is a Finnish word that means "good" or "advisable." Is it that good, and is it a wise choice for web store owners and developers? Please keep reading to learn about its advantages and drawbacks.

Hyvä Benefits: A Real ‘Win-Win’ for Both Developers and Web Store Owners

Magento is not a new player in the E-commerce market. It is a wise choice for online merchants planning to open a web store with various goods. It is secure, scalable, and SEO-friendly. It offers easy integrations with various third-party solutions and has other advantages. It comes with the basic theme, Luma, which is a good starting point for E-commerce website development.

The most common problem with Luma-based solutions is that they are quite slow, "thanks" to both its voluminous architecture and excessive scripts and styles. Consequently, the website requires more time to load, which customers don’t like. Developers, in turn, have to work with many different libraries (Knockout, jQuery, RequireJS, UI Components), which complicates the overall development process and reduces flexibility.

So, what is the Hyvä theme? And what can it offer to developers and online merchants that Luma can't?

Advantages for Magento developers

The Magento Hyvä theme provides developers, both experienced and novice, with several meaningful benefits.

Simplified development process

The Hyvä theme makes Magento frontend development more accessible and faster. Developers use fewer frameworks (specifically, Alpine.js and Tailwind CSS), instead of traditional Knockout.js, Require.js, and LESS, which are necessary for Luma development.

This change reduces the time and effort for developers, liberating the project from the cumbersome dependencies.

Improved performance

Hyvä theme is designed with high performance capabilities in mind, reducing to a minimum the use of JavaScript frameworks, which helps to build lighter pages and reduce load times.

As a result, an online merchant receives an E-commerce website that loads faster. That is, customers don't have a long wait to start shopping online, and Google ranks the web store higher, thanks to the improved page speeds.

Modular architecture

The Hyvä theme allows developers to work on various components separately. With fewer dependencies, it is also possible to use the same piece of code in different projects without needing to rewrite it every time.

Compatibility with the existing Magento 2 modules

Even though the Hyvä theme is relatively new, it is compatible with the overall Magento 2 architecture and some of its extensions, so developers can integrate their existing modules without rebuilding them from scratch (note: some frontend-related modules may require adjustments).

Community support

Another undeniable benefit provided by Hyvä is access to community and support services for developers. Once they start working with Hyvä, they get access to the Slack chat and groups, where they can find information about all the updates and receive necessary support.

Advantages for web store owners

Responsive and high-performing

This is exactly why the Hyvä theme was created. Together with Hyvä’s improved responsiveness and increased page load speed, a web store owner has more time to dedicate to business development instead of resolving endless performance-related issues and customer complaints about a slow website.

Reduced development time

Whether building an online store from scratch or migrating an existing one to the Magento Hyvä theme, an E-commerce business owner wants to keep development times as short as possible.

Since delivering high-quality Hyvä theme development services uses a simplified frontend stack, developers can get the necessary results faster and with fewer resources. With less bloated code, fewer dependencies to manage, and flawless compatibility with some of the existing Magento 2 extensions, updates and maintenance are also easier, which helps to reduce the development time and costs for businesses.

Exceptional UI

User experience is paramount for a successful online store, and the Hyvä theme, offering almost limitless opportunities for customizations, helps to deliver genuine solutions in both design and features provided to the customers.

The better the experience, the more time users spend in a web store and, subsequently, the more goods they can buy. So, just by opting for a new theme and improved user experience, an E-commerce business owner receives increased conversion rates, resulting in increased profits.

Hyvä Implementation Challenges and Effective Solutions

Conceived and created as a solution to the main challenges of Luma, Magento Hyvä theme seems to be a completely flawless solution for E-commerce. Besides the preceding list of benefits it offers to developers and businesses, Hyvä has a couple of things to consider, especially if you are interested in migrating your store from the existing theme (be it Luma or your custom one) to the Hyvä theme.

Migrating from an existing Magento theme to Hyvä can be complex due to significant differences in structure and development approaches between the two. Below are some common challenges you may encounter:

Templates and layouts

Magento traditionally uses a PHTML/XML-based template and layout system, while Hyvä follows a more modern approach, using blocks and components built on HTML and Alpine.js. This structural difference means that a significant amount of code needs to be rewritten to fit Hyvä's architecture.

JavaScript and CSS

Hyvä utilizes Tailwind CSS for styling and components, often paired with Alpine.js for interactivity. Existing Magento themes might be styled with SASS or LESS, which are not directly compatible with Tailwind. Magento developers must adapt or completely rewrite the existing CSS to match Hyvä's styling conventions. Additionally, custom JavaScript elements may need modification to integrate correctly with Alpine.js.

Functionality and modules

We consider the Hyvä theme compatibility as an advantage, and it only improves with time. But Magento's module ecosystem still may present compatibility issues when transitioning to Hyvä. Some modules that work with Magento's default frontend may not function as expected on Hyvä, requiring developers to adapt or rewrite them to ensure proper functionality with the new theme.

Data migration

Transferring data such as products, orders, and customer information can also be a challenge due to possible differences in data structures between Magento and Hyvä. Custom scripts, migration tools or professional data migration services may be necessary to ensure data integrity during the migration process.

Our general advice to every migration project is to review the small design issues, as well as any matters related to the images or text files. However, careful monitoring of the theme performance together with prompt issue resolution by your support team will help to keep your E-commerce website up and running.

Hyvä vs Luma: Quick Comparison

Hyvä	Luma
Uses modern technologies: Alpine.js and Tailwind CSS. Drastically reduces unnecessary code, leading to faster load times and improved performance. Provides a streamlined and user-friendly experience. Offers a simplified architecture with fewer dependencies, making it easier to customize and maintain.	Built on older technologies like Knockout.js, RequireJS, and LESS. Tends to load a large amount of unnecessary JavaScript and CSS code. Can result in slower page load times and a less optimized user experience. Offers a more complex and cumbersome development experience

Some differences are evident when comparing Hyvä and Luma. We've collected the most meaningful ones to help E-commerce business owners make an informed decision, whether planning to create a new web store or update an existing solution.

Performance

Hyvä Theme: Hyvä is a synonym for "performance". It offers lightning-fast page loading speeds. This theme is the top choice, if your E-commerce business focuses on delivering excellent user experience and SEO through fast-loading pages.

Luma Theme: while optimized for performance, Luma's speed can't compete with Hyvä's, which may be a drawback for businesses prioritizing quick load times.

Responsiveness

Hyvä Theme: Hyvä is mobile-optimized, ensuring seamless functionality and user experiences across all devices, with particular attention to mobile-first design.

Luma Theme: Luma is mobile-responsive and adapts well to various screen sizes.

Developers' support

Hyvä Theme: although relatively new, Hyvä is quickly developing a strong, supportive community where developers can share ideas, find support for any issue, and stay updated on Hyvä’s latest news and upcoming releases.

Luma Theme: Luma benefits from its long history; there is a large and well-established Magento community, together with a broader range of resources for issue resolution.

Customizations

Hyvä Theme: right in line with its "Scandinavian" origin, Hyvä theme is very minimalistic in design, offering opportunities to create solutions with straight and clear aesthetics.

Luma Theme: Luma provides almost boundless options for design customizations satisfying even the most sophisticated tastes.

Pricing

Hyvä Theme: Hyvä is available in three distinct licensing options: Hyvä Themes, Hyvä Checkout, and Hyvä Enterprise.

• Hyvä Themes
  

  The Hyvä Themes license allows its purchasers to implement Hyvä on a single Magento 2 installation, supporting unlimited domains and store views. With this license, you gain access to Hyvä theme’s code, as well as various third-party modules that are fully compatible with Magento. Additionally, the license includes access to Hyvä UI at no extra cost.

  The one-time fee for the Hyvä Themes license is €1,000.

• Hyvä Checkout
  

  Hyvä Checkout is a solution designed specifically to enhance the checkout process of your Magento-based store. Currently, it requires purchasing the Hyvä Theme’s license first and applies to one Magento 2 installation, offering the same flexibility with unlimited domains and store views.

  The pricing for Hyvä Checkout is €1,000 for five years (a one-time payment), or you can opt to pay €250 annually, starting from the second year.

• Hyvä Enterprise

Hyvä Enterprise is the premium version designed for businesses using Adobe Commerce. It is fully compatible with advanced features such as the B2B Suite and Adobe Sensei. Like the other licenses, it applies to one Magento 2 installation with unlimited domains and store views. However, it requires an active Adobe Commerce license alongside the Hyvä Theme’s license.

The price for this premium option is €2,500 annually, or you can opt for a five-year, one-time payment plan at €10,000, offering a savings compared to paying €12,500 over five years.

Luma Theme: Luma is a free, but an “out-of-the-box” solution, which will hardly be enough to provide sufficient user experience or create a custom web store reflecting a brand’s identity.

Conclusion

The Hyvä theme is a game-changer for Magento 2 stores; its lightweight structure, optimized speed, and flexibility in customization make it a must-have for businesses looking to enhance user experience and improve SEO rankings. With support for third-party modules, advanced features like Hyvä Checkout, and a growing community, Hyvä is poised to become the go-to solution for online stores seeking to stay ahead in a competitive market. By choosing this solution, you're investing in the future of your web store, ensuring a seamless and engaging shopping experience for your customers.